Directional Risk Strategy Guide
📋 Overview
Directional Risk Strategy allows you to adjust lot sizes and enable/disable orders based on trade direction (BUY vs SELL). This is useful when you have a market bias or want to trade only one direction.
Key Concept: Instead of equal lot sizes for BUY and SELL, you can risk more on BUYs (bullish bias) or more on SELLs (bearish bias), or trade only one direction.
⚙️ Settings Explained
1. DirectionalRiskPreset
DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_DISABLED | PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE |
PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_BUY_ONLY |
PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE |
PRESET_SELL_ONLY | PRESET_BALANCED | PRESET_CUSTOM🎯 Preset Configurations
PRESET_DISABLED (Default)
Buy: 100% risk (normal)
Sell: 100% risk (normal)No directional bias
Standard risk management applies
Use when: No market opinion, trade both directions equally
PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE
Example:
Base risk: 1% per trade
BUY signal: EA risks 1.5%
SELL signal: EA risks 1%
Use when:
Bullish market trend
You expect more profit from BUY trades
Want larger positions on BUYs
Real Example:
PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
Example:
Base risk: 1%
BUY trades: 2% risk (double)
SELL trades: 1% risk (normal)
Use when:
Very strong bullish conviction
Most signals are expected to be profitable BUYs
⚠️ Higher risk - use carefully!
PRESET_BUY_ONLY
What happens:
BUY signals: Opens normally
SELL signals: Completely ignored/skipped
EA logs: "Sell orders are disabled by directional risk preset"
Use when:
Only want to trade long positions
Strong bullish bias
Bearish signals historically unprofitable
Example Scenario:
PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE
Use when:
Bearish market trend
Expect better performance from SELL trades
Want larger short positions
PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
Use when:
Very strong bearish conviction
Most profitable signals expected to be SELLs
PRESET_SELL_ONLY
What happens:
BUY signals: Completely ignored
SELL signals: Opens normally
Use when:
Only want short positions
Strong bearish bias
Long signals historically unprofitable
PRESET_BALANCED
Same as PRESET_DISABLED
Explicit equal treatment
Use for clarity in configuration
PRESET_CUSTOM
🔧 Custom Multipliers (PRESET_CUSTOM only)
When DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM, you can set:
BuyMultiplier
Examples:
1.0= Normal BUY risk1.3= 30% more risk on BUYs0.7= 30% less risk on BUYs2.5= 2.5x risk on BUYs (very aggressive!)0= Disable BUY orders
SellMultiplier
Same logic as BuyMultiplier but for SELL orders.
BuyMaxLot
Set maximum lot size specifically for BUY orders
Overrides global
LotMaxfor BUYs0= uses global setting
Example:
SellMaxLot
Maximum lot size for SELL orders.
📊 Real-World Examples
Example 1: Bullish Gold Trader
Scenario: Trading XAUUSD, believe gold will go up long-term.
Configuration:
Results:
Outcome: More profit potential from BUY trades you believe in.
Example 2: Only Sell EURUSD
Scenario: ECB dovish, USD strong, only want short EUR.
Configuration:
Results:
Example 3: Custom Asymmetric Risk
Scenario: Want 2x risk on BUYs, 0.5x risk on SELLs.
Configuration:
Results:
Example 4: Moderate Directional Bias
Scenario: Slightly bullish but still want to trade both directions.
Configuration:
Result: Subtle bias without extreme positions.
Example 5: Testing One Direction
Scenario: Want to backtest BUY-only strategy.
Configuration:
Benefit:
Clean backtest of long-only strategy
No need to manually filter signals
Can compare vs SELL_ONLY and BALANCED
💡 Strategy Ideas
1. Trend Following
During uptrend:
During downtrend:
2. Carry Trade
For currency pairs where you earn swap on longs:
3. Index Trading
Stock indices tend to go up long-term:
Short-term trading during crashes:
4. Commodity Bias
Gold (bullish long-term):
Oil (volatile, short opportunities):
5. News-Based
Before positive news (ECB rate cut expected):
After news (if trend reverses):
⚠️ Important Warnings
❌ Don't Use Without Reason
Bad:
Good:
❌ Don't Forget to Switch
Market conditions change!
Uptrend → Downtrend: Change from BUY_AGGRESSIVE to SELL_AGGRESSIVE
Set calendar reminders to review settings weekly
❌ Multipliers > 2.0 Are Dangerous
Can blow account quickly
Only use > 2.0 if you have very strong conviction
Prefer 1.0-1.5 range for safety
❌ Testing Required
Always backtest new directional settings
Run on demo for 2-4 weeks
Verify performance before live
🎯 Best Practices
✅ 1. Start with PRESET_DISABLED
Get comfortable with standard trading first
Add directional bias only after consistent results
✅ 2. Use Moderate Multipliers
✅ 3. Align with Higher Timeframes
Daily/Weekly uptrend → BUY_AGGRESSIVE
Daily/Weekly downtrend → SELL_AGGRESSIVE
✅ 4. Combine with Filters
✅ 5. Document Your Bias
Keep notes:
🔍 How EA Logs Directional Decisions
When you enable directional risk, EA will log:
When order is blocked:
When multiplier is applied:
📊 Performance Comparison
Test Results (Example - Your results may vary)
Symbol: XAUUSD Period: 3 months Signals: 100 total (50 BUY, 50 SELL)
DISABLED
+15%
-8%
55%
BUY_AGGRESSIVE
+22%
-12%
58% BUY, 52% SELL
BUY_ONLY
+18%
-10%
58%
SELL_ONLY
+8%
-6%
52%
Conclusion: BUY_AGGRESSIVE was most profitable but with higher drawdown.
💼 When to Use Each Preset
Strong uptrend
BUY_AGGRESSIVE or BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
Strong downtrend
SELL_AGGRESSIVE or SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE
Sideways/Ranging
BALANCED or DISABLED
Bullish fundamentals
BUY_AGGRESSIVE
Bearish fundamentals
SELL_AGGRESSIVE
Testing strategy
BUY_ONLY or SELL_ONLY
No clear bias
DISABLED
🚀 Quick Start Guide
Step 1: Analyze Market
Check trend on Daily/Weekly
Review fundamentals
Identify bias (bullish/bearish/neutral)
Step 2: Choose Preset
Step 3: Monitor & Adjust
Review results weekly
Adjust if market changes
Document reasons for changes
📞 Support
Common Questions:
Q: Can I change preset during live trading? A: Yes, but EA restart required. Close positions first for clean state.
Q: What if I set BuyMultiplier = 0? A: Same as BUY_ONLY preset - BUY orders disabled.
Q: Does this affect pending orders? A: Yes, all order types (market, limit, stop) affected equally.
Q: Can I use different settings per symbol? A: Not directly. Use separate EA instances or file config feature.
Remember: Directional bias should be based on analysis, not gut feeling! 📈📉
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